Gronkowski Participates in First Full-Team Drills

Elsa/Getty Images(FOXBOROUGH, Mass.) — For the first time this preseason, the New England Patriots watched as Tom Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown pass during practice Monday afternoon. It was the first time Gronkowski had participated in full-team drills since having offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL.

“It’s definitely huge to get it going again,” said Gronkowski. “I’ve been working with Tom since I’ve been out here, but we haven’t been doing it vs. the defense or anything. So it was good to be out there and ‘Boom!’ it was just like it was never missed before.”

Gronkowski has said that he plans to play all 16 games this season after playing a combined 18 games the last two seasons. There was no full contact for Gronkowski, but rather some minor hitting that included having the ball stripped from him by rookie corner Malcolm Butler.

Gronkowski, 25, has been participating in some drills since the start of camp on July 24 and is planning to suit up for week one. However, there has been no word on if he will play in one of New England’s final two preseason games.